


Crocodile x Reader

by Bamse



Series: One Piece x Reader Oneshots [16]
Category: One Piece
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 16:44:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17186666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bamse/pseuds/Bamse





	Crocodile x Reader

Welp I did a little research on the sandman and didn't really check for credibility so this could be totally like not how it works but oops. I also have no clue how to write for Crocodile but I tried. Thanks for requesting OnePieceFanFiction

Sandman!Crocodile x Insomniac!Reader

Months of little sleep and night terrors drove you to exhaustion. Before, you'd always got less sleep than you already should've, but it's gotten much worse. Dark circles started forming after only a week or so, and they only deepened with each passing day. You barely had enough energy to get through a day of work, and even when you didn't have to work it was a chore to get through the day. You tried pills or tips and tricks to fall asleep easier, you went to a doctor, but nothing worked.

It got to a point that days off seemed to get you into a worse, slow pace for the rest of the week and you requested to work everyday for longer hours. Instead of having to toss and turn awake for hours, you could pass out from exhaustion in a matter of minutes. The only reason you seemed to wake was the terrifying images within your slumber.

Talking to others became draining, and your friends began to worry. You dismissed the subject whenever someone mentioned it or tried to help. Slowly, everyone began to distance themselves from you just as you had to them. It was lonely, you'd admit, but you were too tired to care.

At some point, it stopped. You started getting better, longer sleep and you felt complete with the regained energy, having made up with friends and being able to recharge for each day with the sleep. When you woke up, you felt full and sleep sand lined the corners of your eyes.

Dreams, too, started coming. The good ones, not the ones that made you frightened to sleep. You were in a world full of crystals and gems that shone colourfully or one where you were in a spring dress, dancing free in an endless field of tall grass and butterflies. You thought it'd been some miracle.

A miracle would've been one way to put it.

Crocodile knew else, though. He'd always worked with children, granting them sweet dreams of candylands and dragons or unicorns. It's not that he cared much for the happiness of kids, but it was his job and he grew to somewhat enjoy it. Since he was a vicious criminal in his past life, his afterlife curse was this. His brother, however, gave nightmares to children. His chant would lull children to a sleep filled with nightmares, then eat them. Sometimes to satisfy hunger, sometimes for fun.

"They taste best when they're suffering," he snickered. "But there is this one adult human that's just a blast to torment! Deprive her of her sleep, and give it some time and she'll be left with nothing but heaps of work and loneliness. But it's not like she had much sleep in the first place," he recalls.

At this, Crocodile raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" Typically, he didn't really care what his brother did. But this intrigued him. "Who is this mystery girl?"

"Oh, you've probably never heard of her, so-"

"What's that supposed to imply? I know everyone," he insisted.

"(Y/N) (L/N), (H/C) hair, (E/C) eyes, 27 years old right now. Lived in (Place) as a child, you might not know her. You never visited her," he chuckled. "Mr. 'I Know Everyone' seems like he needs to get his facts straight."

Crocodile paid no mind to his taunt. He thought for a moment, searching and scavenging his memories for some type of relation. Some similar appearances and similar names, but none were right.

"That's right, though. I guess you only cared about the ones in the houses," he sneered. "This one lived on the streets, all alone, abandoned, desperate for food and water and a little ounce of happiness. I guess you deemed her unworthy of happy dreams!"

"Shut up," he snapped. "Where is she now?"

He faked thinking. "Hum, see I don't think you need to hurt her anymore than you already have," he nodded with a false caring expression. "Ruining her childhood like that." He gasped dramatically, "How discriminating!"

"And you've no right to ruin her adulthood," he countered. "Show. Me."

He held a hand up to his chest. "Oh, how scary!"

"Cut it out."

Rolling his eyes, he shrugged. "Fine, fine. Killjoy." He peered into a globe. "It's just about torment time, too!"

With a snap of his fingers, they arrived in your small apartment. You were passed out in your bed and frankly, you looked awful. It was 2am and he could tell you'd only just fallen asleep. Nearly black, heavy bags hung from your eyes and you were extremely pale, so much that you practically glowed in the dark room.

Crocodile pitied you. "Now for the fun part," his brother giggled. He touched her forehead and motioned for Crocodile to witness it, too. He let a few fingers rest on her head and closed his eyes, concentrating.

He was in a white room, or maybe it wasn't a room at all. He couldn't quite tell, it was all too... blank. It was unnatural. Small, black seeds scatter from above, bouncing on the white floor. They slowly grow, then bud into giant plants, then quickly, the head of the plant shifted into some type of beast, raging and striking at him, chomping with giant, razor teeth. A dark, murky saliva dripped from their open jaws and burnt through the floor as if it were acid. Below him burned like paper, and he fell into a dark pit, opposite from above. The floor- now roof- seemed to seal itself up by itself, and he was left alone.

It felt like hours of loneliness before a small light shone in the distance. He half-willingly approached it, and he saw an old man holding a lantern and leaning on a cane. He was hunched over and half Crocodile's size. He slowly bent his head up and looked at him with blank, white eyes. The elder's neck slowly tilted and his lips turned upwards into an insane smile before dropping the cane and pouncing on Crocodile, jaw clenching onto his arm and sharp teeth sunk into his flesh. He let out a loud screech through the muscle and scratched at him, and his figure slowly deformed and dissolved into a black, skeleton-like shape with a few strands of hair dangling off.

Crocodile shut his eyes tight before opening them again, returning to the normal world. His brother sat on her windowsill. "Fun, no? Of course, that's just a small little sample. It's much scarier for her, and much more personal. Reliving days being kicked around on the street, coughing and sick."

He never realised how twisted his brother was. "You should stop," he stated firmly, sympathising with you. "It's," he paused, and he couldn't believe he of all people was going to say such a thing. "It's wrong."

"You, telling me, that what I'm doing is wrong?" He snorted. "Now that's just hilarious. I can recall someone taking over a city and blowing it up! Killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and even his own underlings!" he reminds him. Crocodile scowled. "No, but do go on. I'd love to hear you lecture me on and on about how awful a person I am. But don't you have work to do? It'd be a shame if you had to rush through and not do a very good job."

He quickly grew sick of his constant taunts and games. "Shut up!" He lunged for him and swung, hard and fast.

A small smirk on his face, the defender simply raised an arm and caught the punch. "Let's play elsewhere, shall we?" He pivots around and kicks Crocodile in the head, then grabs him by the hair and forces him into a dream dimension. It's blank, just like the one he'd previously sent him into.

Crocodile growls and attacks again, but his brother simply dodges and steps back each time before jumping away. He closes his hand into a fist then releases similar, dark seeds around the area. They open, and wolves made of the same, murky black substance crawl out. They jumped for Crocodile, but he easily knocked them away and onto the floor where they melted into a black liquid that spread on the floor surrounding him.

Suddenly, he started sinking, quickly, and by reflex, he grabbed onto his brother's ankle and dragged him down, too. This time, it wasn't like before. He found himself back in the apartment, his brother out of sight. "Did I do it?" he murmured before shaking his head. He wasn't that naive. "Come out!" he called gruffly.

A voice echoed in the room. "Well, now, that wouldn't be very fun would it?"

"Come. Out," he repeated, lowering himself into a defense stance, ready for any attack. Slowly, he turned.

"Fine," a voice whispered behind him. He jumped and turned just as his brother grasped him by the neck. He wasn't sure, but Crocodile had hoped his properties remained the same in this world---surely he couldn't have changed. He struggled a little while longer before his physical form vanished, a few traces of sand left behind, floating downwards.

The brother cursed lowly, but was cut off. Roles had been switched, and Crocodile had him by the neck, cutting off his oxygen supply. As one last effort, the suffocating brother quickly created a sword and coated it with water before slashing at him in a frenzy. He'd hit him once, wiping his hand off clean, but Crocodile focused his mind on the current task and patched it up with a quick layer of sand.

Eventually, he went limp and slowly, he turned into a shriveled, black, unidentifiable creature. The world around Crocodile crumbled and dissolved away. He found himself on the floor, and he slowly got up. Anxious, he checked his left arm. Sure enough, his hand was gone with a layer of sand coating it, keeping the blood and such in. Around him, the creature lay on the ground, twitching.

He shot a spike of hardened sand through its neck and chest, dark blood sputtering out of the wounds. A moment of thought passed before he decided on a course of action. With his sand, he transferred the remains of the disturbing sight away with a small wave of his hand. He glanced at your sleeping figure and wavered two fingers over your head, giving peaceful and happy dreams.

A little spark of admiration lit up in him and he cracked a half smile. "Sweet dreams," he murmured before teleporting himself back to his own house.

Each night, he went to your apartment and granted you the most amazing dreams he could manage. He watched you develop and gain your happiness again. As he watched you, he slowly fell further and further in love with you, then realised he could probably pass as a stalker.

A few months later, he finally mustered enough courage to confront you. He managed an apartment next to yours. Although he was planning on visiting you first, you ended up knocking at his door just as he was about to go to yours.

"Hello!" you greeted with a bright smile. "I just, uh, wanted to welcome you." From behind your back, you handed him a neatly decorated basket full of little trinkets, cookies, and other little things you found. "My name's (Y/N), good to meet you!"

He took it gratefully. "My name's Crocodile. The pleasure is all mine, and thank you."

You bit your lip, suppressing a light chuckle. "You're welcome. Just knock if you need anything, I'm just to the right of yours," you offer.

"Thanks again. Would you like to come in? I can make tea."

It felt rude to deny, so you nodded. "Sure." You step inside and he closes the door behind you. He prepares tea in a kettle in the kitchen before leaving it and sitting across from you.

"So, where do you work?" he starts off casually, despite knowing the answer.

"Ah, well I recently opened up a cafe. It's been my dream for a while but I never really pursued it until lately."

"Sounds nice. What pushed you to finally do it, then?"

You laughed for a quick moment. "It'll sound stupid, but here goes. I had bad insomnia before, and when I did get to sleep it was filled with night terrors that felt like a lifetime," you admitted. "But it was like a miracle. It just... stopped one night! The sleeping issues, the night terrors. Gone, like that! I know it's hard to believe, but it's true! So I guess I just kinda got inspiration from it, and it was like when I was asleep and had dreams, my dreams, it felt like they told me that I should go for it!"

He took a moment and huffed in amusement.

"You don't believe me, do you!" you accused.

As response, with a lopsided smile, "Have you ever heard of the sandman?"


End file.
